The elderly in some regions of the country say they are denied COVVI-19 vaccinations in a continuous peak in cases, resulting in increasing frustration in the face of new Trump administration policies which make the shooting more difficult.
Matthew d’Amico, 67, from New York, said that Walgreens refused to administer COVVI-19 vaccines to him and his 75-year-old wife on Friday because they had no prescription. They try to be vaccinated before a trip.
“I cannot believe that we cannot get” the vaccine, “said Amico in an interview. “I have been inoculated several times and I never had a prescription. And it’s just very frustrating that this is where we are. “
He is not alone in his exasperation. Under the direction of the secretary of skeptical health and the social services of the vaccine, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the federal agencies indeed made more difficult for vaccination against COVVI-19 this year. The Food and Drug Administration has “approved” only the COVVI-19 COVI-19 vaccines for 65 years and over, as well as young people with underlying health problems.
This means that across the country, people under the age of 65 interested in obtaining the COVVI-19 vaccine must now consult a health care provider or “attest” a pharmacy that they have an underlying health. It is a potential obstacle that can make the vaccine more difficult and, some health experts, encourage even more Americans to avoid being vaccinated.
As of Amico can attest to it, however, being part of a group for which the covid vaccine is “approved” does not necessarily guarantee easy access.
“For me, to go to my primary [healthcare provider] Now and get a prescription, it’s just a bit ridiculous, “said Amico.
At least some people under the age of 65 meet pharmacy personnel asking survey questions about their medical conditions.
This occurred in a CVS in Orange on Friday, according to Alex Benson, 34, which takes medication that can remove its immune system.
In addition to protecting himself, he wanted to be vaccinated because he has members of his family who are at high risk if they were to be covides – his mother is immunocomized and his mother -in -law underwent an open -heart surgery on Thursday evening.
Benson said that an employee had asked why he thought he was eligible for the vaccine.
“They asked me either a prescription, or they wanted to know … why I felt that I needed vaccination,” said Benson. At one point, a staff member proposed to call his doctor to obtain authorization for the vaccine.
Benson said he was alarmed by questions and began to “feel a little despair of pleading my file to the pharmacist”. Another member of CVS staff came later and said that more and more responses were not necessary and that it simply attests that it was eligible was quite good. He finally obtained the vaccine.
However, he thought that experience was dismayed.
“I think easy access should be politics,” said Benson. “I tend not to become too political, but it seems to me rather juxtaposed that an anti-regulation administration uses the regulations in this way. They are supposed to eliminate obstacles to health care. ”
The vaccine chaos has come because COVVI-19 increases or begins to hit its top at the end of the summer. According to data published Friday, there are now 14 states with “very high” coronavirus levels detected in their wastewater – California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Connecticut, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Hawaii and Alaska, as well as the District of Colombia.
Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, the head of the regional doctor of infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanent Southern California, said that data continue to show an increase in coronavirus cases.
“During last week, we found an increase in the number of cases of ambulatory consultation, and even a handful of hospitalization cases,” said Hudson. “It seems that we can approach the top of the wave, but it can be about two weeks about until we really know if we are there.”
The rate to which Coronavirus laboratory tests confirm the infection also continues to increase state -scale and in the Los Angeles region. For the week ending on August 30, the California cocovid test positivity rate was 12.83%, compared to 7.05% for the week ending on August 2. In the county, the positive test rate was 14.83%, against 9.33%.
However, other data suggest that certain areas may have reached their summer cocovide peak.
In the County of Orange, the cocovated positive test rate was 13.1%. It is below the rate of the previous week by 18%, but always higher than the rate of the week which ended on August 2, or 10.8%.
In San Francisco, the test rate of tests occurs around 9% for the last week of reliable data available. It is up compared to 7% a month earlier.
In addition, wastewater data in the county show that coronavirus levels have decreased slightly compared to the previous week.
“It is too early to know if this decrease in viral concentrations of wastewater is the first sign that COVVI-19 activity culminates or is a regular variation typical of this data source,” said the Los Angeles County Ministry of Public Health.
Admissions to the COVID Hospital in California increase – with the last rate of 3.93 admissions per 100,000 residents, compared to 2.38.
But they remain relatively low on the scale of the state and in the county of the. The number of residents of the county of the Care for Covid diseases, or which have been hospitalized, “is a little lower than during summer overvoltages in 2023 and 2024,” said the public health service.
A relatively light summer wave could, however, mean that the annual fall and winter wave can be stronger. In July, the Department of State of Public Health said that scientists provided that California would see either a stronger coverage vague or a larger winter wave.
The current confusion on the federal Covid vaccine policy was exacerbated by chaos in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where Kennedy earlier this year has dismissed everyone in the advisory committee influential on immunization practices, and orchestrated the dismissal of the CDC director Susanz only 29 days after it was confirmed to the post of post Senate.
According to the Associated Press, some of the Kennedy on the APIP -on -the -side replacements criticized the vaccines and spread the disinformation. And the new interim director of the CDC – Jim O’Neill, a deputy for Kennedy – is a critic of health regulations and has no training in medicine or health care, AP reported.
The CDC has not published its own recommendations on which should be vaccinated, and this inaction has led to residents of a certain number of states needing to obtain prescriptions from a health professional for at least the next two weeks. In some cases, it is true even for the elders, as from Amico discovered it.
On Friday, CVS said that people need a prescription to obtain a COVVI-19 vaccine, according to their age, in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, UTAH, Virginia and Virginie-Western, as well as in the district of Columbia.
CVS could not even offer the COVVI-19 in its pharmacies in Nevada on Friday; They were only available on the company’s minuteclinic sites, according to spokesperson Amy Thibault.
CVS said it expects to offer COVVI-19 without prescription vaccines in its new-mexic, Nevada, New York and Pennsylvania pharmacies soon, due to recent regulatory changes in each state.
“Currently, all patients in all states must attest to be eligible for the vaccine in order to make an appointment online,” said Thibault. If an adult says he has no underlying health problems, but has a prescription from a health care provider for “out of AMM” use of the vaccine, he can get the blow, confirmed Thibault.
On Thursday, Hawaii joined California, Washington and Oregon in the launch of the West Coast Health Alliance: an interstate compact intended to provide advice on science vaccination as an alternative to the CDC.
“Together, these states will provide guidelines based on vaccination based on evidence rooted in safety, efficiency and transparency – guaranteeing residents residents receive credible information free from political interference”, according to a statement from Governor Gavin Newsom.
The declaration suggests that the Trump administration “dismantles” the CDC essentially.
“The absence of a coherent federal leadership based on science is a direct threat to health security in our country,” the statement said. “To protect the health of our communities, the West Coast Health Alliance will continue to guarantee that our public health strategies are based on the best available sciences.”
It was not immediately clear, however, if the formation of the West Coast Health Alliance allowed people to obtain more easily from COVVI-19 vaccines among the largest pharmacy retailers in the country, where many people obtain their photos.
The general public medical groups, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, also offer their own recommendations to advise individuals and families on the vaccines they should obtain.
